(Adnkronos) – Dozens of Chinese naval units around Taiwan, never before has a fleet of this magnitude been seen around Taipei. The complaint came from the authorities of the island, de facto independent, but which Beijing considers a “rebel province” to be “reunified”. “About 90” units of the Navy and Coast Guard remain in the waters of the so-called first island chain, a Taiwanese official told the Afp agency at a time of alert for possible Chinese war games in response to the first foreign visit by the President of Taiwan, William Lai (Lai Ching-te), who in recent days also made stops in Hawaii and Guam, arousing the ire of Beijing.
The Taipei Defense Ministry also reported that it had detected the presence of 47 Chinese military aircraft near the island in 24 hours, the highest number since the record of October 15, when 153 were reported, a ‘response’ from China to a speech by Lai, whom the People’s Republic considers a “dangerous separatist”.
Yesterday, in conjunction with the start of maneuvers by Taiwan, the Beijing Foreign Ministry had reiterated that China would “firmly defend” its sovereignty.
According to the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, the number of Chinese naval units in the waters around Taiwan is higher than that of Beijing’s ‘retaliation’ for the visit to Taipei in 2022 by Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House. .
For Sun Li-fang, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, “it can be said that the size of these naval forces is such as to exceed the four exercises carried out since 2022”. According to complaints from Taipei, this time “included” are not only forces from the “Eastern Theater Command, but also from the Northern and Southern Theater Commands”.
For now, there have been no announcements from the People’s Liberation Army or official media of the Asian giant regarding a further increase in military activity in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea.
